Stress is real, boys!

Hotaru Hikari, close friend to Soichiro and Yoruichi, stood in a white room that was even larger than the gym from earlier. She figured that she had been deep underground after she walked down those stairs. Or maybe this place was a moving cube, constantly changing directions under Simon Middle. If that was the case, she was going to die here with Misa and end up like Lana. Poor Lana had been eaten alive by these... things. Hotaru examined their bodies and tried to hide her disgust but it just wasn't possible. Their faces seemed to have been sewed onto human flesh, resulting in the "faces" to appear to slowly be rotting.

The rest of their body parts seemed to be completely stitched together, does that mean Lana had reattached their limbs? It was a horrifying thought for Hotaru and her hand began to shake violently as she held the grip of her sword. "Don't panic, Hotaru... just put them out of their misery! They aren't human anymore; They are dead men walking! If you don't end their suffering now, they'll continue to be in pain for the rest of eternity!" Misa shouted and Hotaru regained her composure. It was hard to say but Hotaru did feel as if she could trust Misa, she hadn't seemed to want to kill her or any of her friends. Hotaru took a deep breath and exhaled, "I hope these guys can forgive me." She said to herself as she slowly approached a crowd of the "Undead".

Hotaru watched them look at her and soon enough, one charged at her with their fingers merging into one big sword. Hotaru held the grip of her sword with both hands and thrusted herself forward. She closed her eyes as she heard a screech coming from her target, who was impaled by her blade, and pulled it out of the person. Black blood had stained the sword and she was confused, "How the hell does someone be able to change the color blood?" She asked no in particular and another came towards her, but this time their hands had been completely "normal". The Undead person swung their hand down on Hotaru, who blocked it with the funnel of her blade. She kicked her target in the gut, if they still had one, and raised her sword high in the air. She slammed it down on the Undead person with closed eyes, she didn't want to witness any more deaths

. She opened her eyes to see two halves of her ex-target's body on the ground and saw that many of the Undead had chosen to stay far from her. "If they want to be set free, why are they running from me? Is there something I'm not getting?", she thought aloud and flicked black blood off her sword once again. This was getting tiresome, even after just fighting two of them. It didn't seem to her that they wanted to die, well who wouldn't? No one deserves to have their life be taken! "Hotaru, get moving, quickly! You don't want to know what will happen next if you don't end their pain, so please... hurry!" Misa shouted and Hotaru sighed. "It's only right that we do this." Hotaru said to her sword, which shined for a quick second as if it agreed with her. Hotaru jumped into a crowd of the Undead, a full circle of Undead around her. Hotaru held her sword by the grip in a horizontal way, showing off the sharp metal on the blade before she spun around.

The blade made contact with the arteries of the Undead, guts spilled out and she almost threw up in her mouth. She went on a massacre, killing any Undead in sight with a grim expression on her face. She stood around what seemed to be hundreds of bodies. Heavily breathing, she walked towards Misa with her blade being dragged on the white tiles. "Why isn't the door open? We need to get out of here. This place is still too dangerous, even after all the training we did." Hotaru said with a gloom look on her face. The thoughts of never leaving this cruel place had crept into her mind, one that she tried to hold back. Misa coughed up blood onto the palm of her and looked up to see the screen, the female scientist on it with a satisfied look on her face.

"I will let you leave, but the blood you have spilled will never leave you. You are doomed to know that you have blood on your hands, HUMAN BLOOD!" The woman shouted at Hotaru through the screen and the young girl kept her head down. Holding back tears, Hotaru knelt down to Misa and asked if there was anything that she could do. "Getting out of here... is what you should do. You have to live or else Giove XII will never become the boss!", Misa said while getting back up and turned around to see their exit. Hotaru and Misa ran up the steps, careful not to slip and fall. It was far too dangerous to stay here in Shimon Middle, they needed to escape and regroup at Soichiro's home. "These guys... are leagues above us! We couldn't win... after coming all this way. Damn it, why are we so weak?!", Hotaru screamed at herself in the head and continued to run up the steps until they both made it back to room where Hotaru had her first encounter with Lana. She saw the throne that she sliced in half, she only did that to lure Lana out since it seemed so important. Misa grabbed Hotaru's wrist and looked her dead in the eyes, "Pull yourself together! Soichiro still needs your help, whether or not you see yourself as weak. This is where the final battle between Bakura and the Giove Famiglia happens!" Misa said with a smile, a smile so bright even after the horrors they both had seen today. But something bugged Hotaru about Misa.

"How do you know so much...? You knew that woman would free us if I killed those... people. You KNEW what was going to happen, didn't you?" Hotaru's questions made Misa silent and she looked away from the swordswomen. She held her hands behind her back and sighed heavily, "I... can't tell you everything. At least, not now. But please know that everything will be okay! Just support Soichiro. Become the rain that calms the sky. And... save Master Bakura from himself!" Misa said with a enthusiasm written in her voice. To ruin the mood, the girl coughed up blood and Hotaru tried to help her but Misa refused. She was just as stubborn as a bull, rejecting any offer of help from Hotaru. Misa began to walk away from Hotaru but she lost balance and fell onto the ground. "Misa, what can I do to help? You are throwing up too much blood!" Hotaru shouted and the girl didn't give an answer. "I... have to take my medicine... just a bit more...", Misa said as black strings wrapped around her right ankle and the girl let out a yelp before being dragged away from Hotaru. Hotaru heard the laughter of the lady scientist. All Hotaru could do now was hope that Misa was safe and unharmed. Protecting her was completely out of reach now.

Retreating to the entrance of Shimon Middle, Hotaru kept her hand on the grip of her sword in case any enemies wished to step up to her. As of now, Hotaru Hikari was escaping this terrifying place and never coming back.

——————

Soichiro and Kaname walked through a hallway. Classrooms were in their view of sight and Soichiro was too chicken to investigate them. He thought that Bakura would appear at any time and kill him. Kaname wasn't afraid of this and shouted for Bakura to face him. Soichiro tried to make him shut up but the sight of his batons being held against his throat seemed scary enough. "Sorry, Kaname-san! I just don't want Bakura to attack us while we are unprepared! So can you keep your voice down?", Soichiro asked in the most suck up voice ever in history and Kaname continued to glare at him. Kaname removed the batons from Soichiro's throat and walked forward, glancing at the classrooms that they walked by. Soichiro saw something shiny sticking out of a desk on the room to his left. He nervously walked towards it and touched it with his index finger. He jumped back and held up his hands over his face, trying to block a ghost or something. "What the hell are you doing?" Kaname asked and Soichiro chuckled slightly before walking back to the desk. He reached for what could be seen as a necklace, a round circle with the initials of S.M. on the front of it.

"Someone must have left it while escaping here. A guy came in and just... started firing rounds at any students he saw. In a news article, it was said that most of the students bodies weren't found. Likely that the bastard hid them all over this forest." Kaname said with a sad tone. It was rare to see Kaname sad about something so... sad. He probably didn't like to show it but Soichiro figured he was human too. "That is why no one ever comes around this place. Afraid of their children to be taken and killed, well what do you care? Your more concerned about Bakura." Kaname coldly said as he began to walk away from Soichiro. Soichiro placed the necklace in his pocket, planning on burying this somewhere near Namimori Cemetery. Hopefully, it'll bring the spirit of whoever owned this necklace to rest. Soichiro caught up with Kaname and the two boys looked to see that they had entered an auditorium.

Amazed by how large it was, Soichiro was reaching for his phone to snap a few pictures and send it to his mother. But Kaname's glare told him not to do that. Kaname jumped onto a seat and continued moving forward, not bothering to care about Soichiro's safety. Soichiro was left dumb founded by his action, he simply walked down the road that separated the rows of seats and stood in front of what would appear to be a stage. Soichiro sighed as he climbed onto the stage on the edge of it, angered that Kaname hadn't offered to help him up. "At least be a good person to me." Soichiro muttered and Kaname's crimson eyes creeped over to him, his batons slowly raising up.

Soichiro moved quickly enough to get on the stage and ducked as Kaname swung his baton at his head. Soichiro looked at him as if he was insane, "Kaname! What are you doing?! Aren't we supposed to be working together?!" Soichiro shouted at him and Kaname brushed off his hasty remark with a grin. A grin full of malicious intent that it had Soichiro ready to cry. "I figure you'd be a good warm up before my rematch with Bakura. Don't take it personally, Soichiro. But I've found a guy who can ignite a flame that shined bright in me. He is... my destined rival! You were just his stand-in!", Kaname's harsh words actually relieved Soichiro. The boy got on his knees and prayed to God for answering his prayers, it was as if this had all been a dream. It was almost... TOO perfect for Soichiro! Kaname, on the other hand, was confused why he was on the ground like that and waited for him to get back up.

"Thank you Jesus for allowing me to live a bit longer! Kaname can leave me alone, THIS TIME FOR GOOD! THANK YOU!!", Soichiro thought in his prayer before getting up and looking at Kaname. Kaname rushed at Soichiro and his left baton was an inch away from Soichiro's neck. Soichiro held up his arm at the very last second and blocked the blow. Soichiro's entire arm was stunned, pain burst throughout his right arm. Kaname hadn't been done there as he kicked Soichiro in the face and forced the boy's body to fall down on the stage. Soichiro watched Kaname slam down his batons on Soichiro's chest, forcing the boy to cough up plenty of blood. Kaname kept smashing his batons into Soichiro's chest, trying his best to render the boy uncomfortable.

Just then, a bullet had been fired at Kaname and the disciplinary committee leader moved out of the way. The bullet left a hole near Soichiro's torse, the left side of it. Soichiro got up and held up his hands in surrender, not willing to risk dying to an enemy he couldn't see. "Come out and face me." Kaname said as a figure, of someone the boys both knew, jumped onto the stage and held out his gun towards Kaname. The man tipped his hat towards Soichiro and smiled, "Yo. I knew I couldn't leave you here alone. Your helpless, Soichiro-san."

The voice of Renovatio, the famous #1 hitman, filled Soichiro's heart with hope. Then he remembered all the times Renovatio almost killed him during his training, he almost got eaten by a shark from who knows where. "Well, well. Look who finally decided to fight me! One-on-one, man to man." Kaname said as he held up his batons and Renovatio's teal eyes glanced over at Kaname. He noticed the boy finally revealed his batons, something he was hiding under his coat for awhile. "Nice batons, Kaname. Shouldn't Arisa be your primary concern? She was kidnapped by Bakura, y'know." Renovatio said as he lowered his magnum and tucked it away in his jacket. Soichiro had a crazed look on his face once Renovatio told him that Arisa had been kidnapped. He rushed over to Renovatio and grabbed him by his collar, rage written over his face.

"SHE WAS KIDNAPPED? ARE YOU PLAYING SOME SICK JOKE ON ME?", Soichiro shouted at his tutor and Renovatio shook his head. He gestured to Kaname, who had looked away from them, and sighed heavily.

"Bakura used her to lure me here. He must've known how deep our bond was. And there's something he mentioned to me, something called 'Giove Famiglia'. You are apart of that thing, aren't you, Soichiro?" Kaname asked as he stepped closer to Soichiro and slammed his baton on the floor of the stage. He DEMANDED answers from Soichiro, he was desperate to know what Bakura was going to do to his cousin.

"Probably gonna skin her alive. That's sort of how things run with rogue mafiosi." Renovatio informed the two and Soichiro let go of the man's collar. He calmed himself down by sucking on his thumb and waiting for Renovatio to tell him what to do. "And for your question about the famiglia, you'll have to wait until you beat Bakura. You need to defeat him, don't bother thinking about Arisa for now. It'll only slow you down." Renovatio said with a smile and Kaname was tempted to wipe it off his face. But he had been right; Thinking of her frightened face had caused him to do irrational decisions. His anger and frustration of not being able to protect her is what caused him to lash out at Soichiro. That temper of his... was scary. Renovatio clicked his tongue as he thought to himself about Kaname and Soichiro's rivalry; Kaname was going to kill Soichiro if he didn't calm himself down.

Soichiro was probably feeling the same way as Kaname, though his blood lust wasn't very high. Soichiro was a bit angry that Arisa had been dragged into this for no reason other than to lure Kaname here. "The real question is.. why bring Kaname to this place? And that kid I interrogated must of lied about Midori Middle. If it was full of traps for Soichiro then– Oh no." Renovatio thought as Kaname's glare had began to eat away at his heart. He rubbed his chin and held up his right index finger, gaining the boy's attention.

"Kaname, do whatever you want. Just don't kill him!", Renovatio said with a smile and Soichiro felt his ghost leave his body. Kaname nodded and his batons shined brightly, a dark purple aura was emitting off Kaname's body that gave Soichiro the creeps. Soichiro gulped nervously as Renovatio vanished from his sight. Kaname rushed towards Soichiro and his right baton was held high in the air, a cocky grin written over his face. He slammed it down on Soichiro's head and Soichiro could feel nothing but pain rush down onto his lower body parts. He stepped back as tears filled his eyes and he felt lightheaded; It was as if he had to pass out so his brain could fully register the painful experience Kaname was bound to give him.

But the disciplinary committee leader hadn't been done there. Kaname threw his batons onto the ground and wrapped his arms around Soichiro, who was already losing consciousness, and began to lift him in a bear hug. Kaname bended his back over and Soichiro's eyes widened as his face met the stage floor. A hole was formed once Soichiro's face met the hard floor, blood covered his face and hair. His pupils vanished as his head was pulled out of the hole by the collar of his shirt, Kaname laughed as his fist connected with the young boy's face. More blood had tainted the floor of the stage and Kaname began to rapidly punch his face, to normal people his fists would look like globs of flesh hitting Soichiro.

Soichiro, out of pure muscle memory, began to reach for one of Kaname's batons while he was being treated like a punching bag. Kaname hadn't taken notice of this action because he was GENUINELY enjoying Soichiro being beaten to a pulp. "IT FEELS PREPOSTEROUS TO HAVE LOST TO YOU! HOW CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU EVER COME CLOSE TO MATCHING MY STRENGTH?!", Kaname shouted at his *former* rival.

If you looked closely at Kaname, you would have thought he was the devil by the way he was grinning as Soichiro was beginning to lose TOO much blood. Soichiro's arm held up Kaname's baton and rammed it across the boy's neck, a pained yelp came out of Kaname's mouth as he fell on his knees. Soichiro's body was acting of its own accord now, as it got up and walked over to Kaname, who happened to be gasping for breath. Soichiro's leg hit Kaname's rib and knocked the boy over onto his back. The young boss had began to stomp on Kaname, earning a cackle from Renovatio. Had Vincenzo seen this, The first Giove Boss, he would've been confused on why Soichiro was stomping on the kid.

Renovatio seemed to be expecting this kind of behavior from Soichiro's body as a relieved sigh came out of his mouth. "I was 30% sure he did not inherit a SINGLE gift from Giove Primo. But... He's inherited the Giove Foresight and Institution. Two gifts, in such a short time too. This makes me wonder what kind of beast he will be in the future." Renovatio said to the viewers as he appeared next to Soichiro's body, which had been sitting on top of Kaname, and held back his disgust of Soichiro's bloody body. Even his clothes were soaked with his blood! How his heart hadn't stopped yet was amazing. Renovatio reached for something in his jacket, throwing out useless things like rubber ducks and such.

Finally, after three minutes, a pill had been in his hand and he placed it in Soichiro's mouth. He slowly made Soichiro swallow the pill and laid him down next to Kaname, who was so pissed that if he said anything he was going to kill someone. "You'll be fine, Soichiro. This pill contains a special kind of... medicine that'll heal your injuries quick." Renovatio said as he turned to give Kaname one, the boy bluntly refused his help. Kaname flipped Renovatio off and weakly got up, "I can heal on my own." He said as he held a hand over his left rib. The boy was clearly in pain and his pride was so large that he wouldn't accept any offer to be helped. He must really think he's invincible! Renovatio laughed at this and shoved the yellow pill into Kaname's mouth without any warning. Kaname swallowed the pill and felt a bit of his pain go away, which made his mood a bit brighter.

"Damn it... How am I always getting side tracked? I can't keep my ego in check while my cousin is going to be murdered! GOD DAMNIT." Kaname shouted at himself in his head as he hurried to the end of the stage. Renovatio grabbed Kaname by his shirt and forced him to sit next to Soichiro, the boy finally awakened to see a bloody outfit and his injuries gone. He couldn't feel any pain, the only thing he could feel was his heart beating. "The both of you should know something about Bakura. He isn't like the average mafiosi, he's a... special case. He has abilities that long surpass your own, even Kaname isn't enough to beat him and you've felt his power."

Renovatio stated as Kaname looked down in shame. Soichiro nodded at this small piece of information, not really knowing what to do with it. "I guess it's a bit good that we know something about this guy. He's a special case so maybe... he's a successor to Giove Primo!" Soichiro happily thought. He almost squealed in joy, this probably meant he could just hand over his title as Giove XII!

"Unfortunately for you, He's not a successor to Giove Primo. Had he been, your orders to kill him would have been nullified in a nanosecond. So you get to kill someone, isn't that great?!" Renovatio asked as Soichiro's spirit had been lowered. Kaname could feel a negative aura from Soichiro and let out an irritated growl, "Giove this and Giove that! Just what the hell is that thing?! I'm trying to save my cousin and you are more worried about this Fiove or some shit!" Kaname shouted and Renovatio fired a round in the air once he finished talking. Kaname's eyes remained fierce and full of anger, his batons in hand and all. He stood in front of Renovatio and was getting ready to attack him, same was said for Renovatio. Soichiro stood in between both of them and began to shout, "Both of you! Calm down! Renovatio, just tell him what the Giove is. I don't even know much about them." Soichiro said as Renovatio began to clear his throat and put his gun away once again. Kaname lowered his batons but kept his guard up, in case Renovatio wanted to pull a cheap shot on him.

"Kaname, the Giove is the mafia. They are apart of a criminal organization that has entire cities under their control, even the police are their men in disguise. The only reason you aren't in jail isn't because of your strength, it's because the Giove NEED you alive for Soichiro." Renovatio informed the boy as Kaname began to raise his batons. He felt insulted by Renovatio! It's as if he had been asking for a death wish. Renovatio, shockingly to us, was telling the truth. The Giove had their eyes on Kaname for God knows how long, viewing him as a powerful asset to the Family.

"You're nothing special without the Giove, Kaname. In truth, they are the only reason you are strong. Ever since birth, you were molded into becoming the strongest bodyguard for Soichiro. Your only purpose... is to die serving the 12th Giove Boss." Renovatio coldy informed Kaname and Soichiro had been left speechless by Renovatio's words. Renovatio DEFINITELY has a death wish! Kaname shook his head furiously, refusing to believe the lies that Renovatio had spitted out of his mouth.

Kaname began to stumble backwards as his batons slipped out of his hands. He dropped to his knees as his began to grip his hair, voices began to fill his head up. He couldn't hear Soichiro shouting for his name. His crimson eyes began to take on a dark hue as he looked up at Renovatio, whose magnum was aimed for Kaname's forehead. "Your family has done plenty of shit to themselves after your great-great-great (×5) grandmothers walked on this earth. Just know, you'll be fine in a couple of minutes, it's just a panic attack or something." Renovatio casually said to Kaname as the boy passed out and Renovatio clicked his tongue. He lifted Kaname onto his shoulder and glanced over at Soichiro, "Like I said... his family has done PLENTY of shit to theirselves." Renovatio said as he and Soichiro felt the dark presence of their enemy.

——————

"My, oh my, you certainly have a knack for breaking children. I always wanted to meet you, face to face, Renovatio." Bakura said as he appeared in the air, sitting on what appears to be a throne without a care in the world. Soichiro was both amazed and scared because how the hell is that throne levitating. "I should say the same for you. You killed 15 families to get even the slightest hint of Giove XII, you didn't even let them BREATHE without a dagger in their arteries." Renovatio said as he fired a bullet at Bakura, the sight of a bullet piercing steel was able to be seen as Bakura had disappeared from the throne and it gladly took the bullet for him.

Bakura's red dagger collided with Renovatio's magnum, sparks from the metal began to touch the floor. Bakura was grinning like a madman while Renovatio was wondering who was his barber. Because damn baby, his silver hair was PERFECTLY cut. "I wonder if even YOU can bleed." Bakura said as Renovatio smiled, Kaname grumbled in his sleep and Soichiro was baffled by this statement. Soichiro was 1,000% sure that this man Renovatio couldn't bleed, even if he wanted to. "Don't worry, Soichiro-san. I'm the strongest, ya know!", Renovatio said as their battle begins... now!

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Sorry for not posting for a LONG WHILE. School recently started and I'm getting fucked in the ass with homework. Oh, and I got suspended on the 2nd week of school so that gave me enough time to write this.

Soichiro: How in the hell-

Kaname: Amazing. That is a delinquent for you.

Hotaru (Half-dead): Can someone... please come get me...

Oh, and I just wanted to explain something to you guys. Remember when Soichiro witnessed Bakura planning something in his dream? That was considered to be Giove Foresight, a "gift" that allowed Giove Bosses to ability to witness events that are already occurring or witness memories of other Giove Bosses. Though, Soichiro is the only "Boss" to have not witnessed a memory of the past bosses once this gift revealed itself.

Giove Institution is similar to Vongola Institution. Giove Institution makes the body fight purely on muscle memory, so when Soichiro was training under Renovatio to find his own fighting style, his body memorized every single move he performed and repeated them. Amazingly enough, Soichiro is one of the few bosses to ever gain two gifts at such a young age.

Bakura: Oh, did you watch the No Way Home Trailer? It's so fucking g-

SHUT UP. Anyways, GOODBYE! SEE YA!